“Las Posadas” by Maria Laughlin As Christmas approaches, we are reminded that a very pregnant young woman and her patient fiancé were once left out in the cold. They made their way to the town of Bethlehem hoping and praying that someone would have a place for them to stay… but there was no room.…
Kenotic Words
worship, sermons, lectionary
Joy… for the tough times
This morning in worship we focused on John the Baptist’s question to Jesus: How do I know that you are the one? Are you him? photo by: Mattox Jesus listed off all the signs of the kingdom – the things he was doing that demonstrated the Kingdom of God had come near. Instead of preaching,…
cut and paste liturgy of JOY!
I am definately a cut and paste liturgical writer. I don’t have the time and energy most days to do the good hard creative work it takes to listen for God speaking and to craft liturgy. And there are other people out there who do it so much better than I do! There are a…
Why we are singing Christmas carols this Advent…
There have been a number of interesting conversations going on around how we keep Advent and Christmas. Taylor Burton-Edwards has suggested that what we actually experience is something more like Admastime… leaving the “vent” and the “Christ” out of it completely. In the time that I have known what Advent was… and I have to…
Hope… that next year things will be different
Keep awake! Get ready! Prepare yourselves! These are the words that fly at us from the scriptures on this first Sunday of Advent. But get ready for what? Light? Dawn? The son of Man? Yes. Yes. And Yes. Get ready for the hope of the world… Will you pray with me? (adapted from Thom Shuman)…
Setting the Table: The Silverware
Sing vs. 1 & 3 from “For One Great Peace” #2185 in The Faith We Sing This is small part, in one small place, of one heart’s beat, for one great peace. Sitting in the kitchen this week and helping with the United Methodist Women’s supper reminded me of the small part all of us…
Setting the Table: The Cup
On a brutally hot afternoon, a lone woman makes the long trek from her village to the nearby well. She brings with her an empty jug. All of the other women had come out to draw up the water early in the morning – before the sunlight would beat down upon the earth. All of…
Setting the Table: The Plate
Two weeks ago, I was honored to be asked to plan worship for a gathering of clergy in Des Moines. A friend, Rev. Sean McRoberts planned the service with me and we had everything arranged and ready to go. I just had to make sure to arrive early enough in the morning that I could…